Murder Between the Covers

by Maddie Cochere

  “You have to pay eight dollars and join the Friends if you go in tonight,” Kelly said. “It’s free tomorrow.”

  “They aren’t going to make the mayor pay,” Keith said. “He’s a dignitary. He gets everything in town for free. Jimmy Faust said his dad said Bubba is getting a free lunch all over town.”

  Bubba threw his head back and laughed, but Pepper looked like she wanted to strangle Keith. It was a familiar look.

  “I do get a fair amount of freebies,” the mayor said. “But I like to support the arts, so I’ll be paying for the book sale tonight. Did you notice if they had old books? I like to read the classics at night. I seemed to have missed them in my youth, and I’m enjoying them now.”

  “They have an entire section devoted to vintage books,” Pepper said. “I’m sure you’ll find something.”

  “Check the children’s section, too,” I said. “If you don’t mind digging through boxes, I found some there.”

  “I’ll be sure to do that,” he said. “You folks have a fine evening and be safe out there.”

  Glenn and Clay both gave the mayor a nod. Pepper reached out to shake his hand and said, “We will. You’re doing a fine job, Bubba. Keep up the good work.”

  I attempted a smile, but cringed inside. I didn’t like the man. He wasn’t married, had no children, and he was an outsider. No one in town had known him personally before he ran for office five months ago.

  He claimed he moved to Buxley from Indianapolis for a change of pace, and when he saw Mayor Gage wouldn’t be running for re-election, he decided to run on a platform of public safety. And even though his real name was Bradley Bones, he had chosen to run with his nickname of Bubba.

  He was in office five weeks now, and already he had the town divided. Half the people loved him and thought he was a great mayor. The other half wanted him out of their business and longed for Mayor Gage and his do-nothing administration.

  I handed my keys to Keith. “You and Kelly go load the truck.” To Glenn and Clay, I asked, “Where are you headed tonight?”

  “Nowhere in particular,” Glenn said. “It’s been quiet lately, so we’re running more neighborhood patrols than usual. We come into town every couple of hours to get donuts and coffee.” He grinned. He knew what my response would be.

  “You are such a cliche,” I said and gave him a kiss on the cheek before walking to the truck with Pepper.

  “You two are great together,” she said. “I didn’t want to admit it, but moving in with Glenn at his place was the right decision. I’ve never seen you happier.”

  I couldn’t have agreed more. “We’re getting along really well, and I love the house. We decided last night to remodel the kitchen and the bathrooms in the spring.”

  “Finally,” she said. “The bathroom off the kitchen is butt ugly and scary.”

  I laughed. “I agree it’s ugly, but what’s so scary about it?”

  “You’ve got the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come living in there. The noise when you flush the toilet is completely creepy.

  “Are you talking about Glenn’s toilet?” Keith asked, hopping out of the bed of the truck. “It’s haunted. The last time I used it, it said get out when I flushed.” He said the words get out in a deep voice.

  “I go upstairs,” Kelly said. “After the toilet started running and making bubbling noises when I was sitting on it, I was sure something was coming up to get me. I’ll never go in there again.”

  I couldn’t help laughing. “You guys are all nuts. There’s nothing wrong with the toilet. It’s an old house and the pipes make noise. You should hear the furnace. Now, that’s scary. I took my laundry to the new laundromat downtown last week, so I wouldn’t have to go in the basement.”

  Pepper laughed. “I’m not surprised. You don’t have a good history with basements.”

  It was only partly true that I took my laundry to the laundromat, so I wouldn’t have to go in the basement. I was running surveillance on the laundromat, and it was an easy way to observe the owner while blending in.

  With the books secure in the back of the truck, I drove to Pepper’s. The kids unloaded the truck and carried the bags and boxes into the house.

  Their living room no longer resembled a living room. Two banquet-style tables had been moved into the room. One held inventory. The second had a computer on one end for listing items to sell, while the other end was used to prepare books for shipping. Boxes, bubble wrap, and padded envelopes filled the space under the table.

  The only item original to the room was the sofa. Everything else had been moved to the basement, where Buck had put together a makeshift family room.

  “I can’t wait to see what we have,” Pepper said, her eyes shining with excitement. “We average ten dollars per listing, so if we list a hundred and fifty books next week, that’s a potential fifteen hundred dollars if they all sell.”

  “But they don’t all sell,” Keith told me.

  “They will eventually,” Kelly said.

  “How did you guys ever come up with this idea?” I asked.

  “Buck reads a lot when he’s on the road, so we had boxes full of his books in the basement. And we had books to sell from our homeschooling, so I started listing them online. When I made five hundred dollars in one weekend, I started looking for more ways to get used books. Peggy at the bookstore told me about libraries culling books and selling them.”

  “We’ve been driving all over Ohio for inventory,” Kelly said.

  “Is it always so raucous at the sales?” I asked.

  The three of them looked at each other and laughed. “No, but they always start like the Oklahoma Land Rush when the doors open,” Kelly said.

  “Yeah. And if you don’t have two or three bags picked in the first minute, you’ve already missed the best stuff,” Keith said. “If there’s a hallway to go through, I sometimes walk real slow and hold people up behind me, so Mom and Kelly can get a few extra seconds of looking.”

  “Are you always first in line?” I asked.

  “Usually,” Pepper said. “We don’t mind waiting two or three hours to get in, so we go early and wait. It makes a big difference when you’re looking for books that will sell fast and bring the most money.”

  “I’m impressed,” I said. “Are you marking this as business education for their schooling?”

  “Of course,” Pepper said with a smile. “Business, marketing, accounting, e-commerce – we’ve got it all covered.”

  “We’re entrepreneurs,” Keith said and puffed out his chest.

  “Are you making a salary?” I asked him.

  “Yep. Mom can pay me and Kelly six hundred dollars a year, and we don’t have to pay taxes.”

  “Don’t you want to make more money than that and pay the taxes?” I asked.

  Pepper grunted. “I’m not paying them more than that. The money we make goes for field trips and school supplies, and hopefully, we’ll make enough to finally go to Virginia Beach next summer.”

  Keith moved a few bags aside and dragged one of my boxes in front of him. He sat on the floor and pulled the flaps back.

  “Oh, yuck!” he exclaimed. “How did we get this old crap?”

  “Don’t say crap,” Pepper told him with a frown.

  “I grabbed those,” I said.

  “Why?” Pepper asked. “I told you to only pick books that were like new. Is that other box old books, too?”

  “Yes, but I thought-”

  She didn’t want to hear what I thought. “We’ll take them to Peggy’s next week. Maybe she can sell them in her shop.”

  “Wait a minute,” I said. “These are old books, and some of them have dustjackets. I thought they might have some value.”

  “Everyone thinks that,” Pepper said. “Just because something’s old doesn’t mean it’s valuable.” She reached into the box and pulled out a copy of Moby Dick. “This book is old, but unless it’s a first edition, it has no more value than the fifty cents we paid for it.”

&n
bsp; Keith began digging through the box and setting some of the books aside. “Hardy Boys. Cool beans. Uncle Hank said I could read his Hardy Boys books, but when he went to get them, they were gone. He said Grandmama gave them to Roger to sell, and they burned up in the fire at the flea market. Now I can read these.” He had a small stack of the books beside him.

  “You check the value of all the books, don’t you?” I asked.

  “That’s my job,” Kelly said.

  “Well, before you go giving the books to Peggy, check their value. There might be something worthwhile in there.”

  Keith ran upstairs to put his new old books in his room.

  “I don’t mean to be a party-pooper,” I said, “but I have to be up early tomorrow, and I think your book sale wore me out. I’ll leave you guys to uncover your treasures without me.”

  I walked out to my truck and looked over at my house. I missed being able to walk across the cul-de-sac and boom – I was home. I didn’t want to give up living at Glenn’s house, I just missed being able to get home in less than a minute.

  Chapter Two

  Arnie stuck his head through my doorway. “Come over and talk for a minute?”

  “Sure,” I said and followed him to his office.

  He shut the door. This was odd behavior for him. Normally, if he wanted to talk with me while I was busy with paperwork, he would just sit in the chair in my office.

  My hands suddenly became clammy. This felt like the one time in my life when I was fired. I was a receptionist for a small manufacturing company, and the boss was a complete freak about money. When the petty cash drawer came up short eight dollars and twenty-four cents, he went ballistic. Even though I didn’t take it, I offered to replace the money. He called me into his office, shut the door, and took on a somber tone. He told me I was untrustworthy, and he could no longer allow me to work for the company. Being fired unjustly felt terrible, but it also felt wonderful to walk out the door and leave the jerk behind.

  “How are things going at the laundromat?” he asked.

  “Fine. I’m headed over there in a few minutes.”

  He nodded, but I think I could have told him I witnessed a murder, and I would have garnered the same reaction. He seemed distracted.

  “We have a new case.”

  I let out a small sigh of relief. My job was secure for another day.

  “Mitch Friedman came by my house last night. He was there on behalf of the members of the town council. They want us to investigate the mayor.”

  My eyebrows shot up. “The mayor? Why?”

  “Jo, this is confidential. Whether we take the case or not, this isn’t something you can discuss with Glenn or your family – and especially not Jackie. I can’t have any of this winding up in the newspaper.”

  That was a tall order to fill. Keeping one of our cases from Pepper and Jackie wouldn’t be too difficult, but it would be hard to keep the details from Glenn.

  I nodded my head. I’d give it my best shot.

  “It’s no secret the council is unhappy with how quickly the mayor is implementing his platform. It’s hard for the members to vote against him when everything he brings before them is in the name of public safety.”

  “I get that,” I said. “Glenn’s unhappy. Starting next week, they have to ride bicycles when they patrol downtown. The weather might be mild now, but what about next month? If we have another January like we did last year, the guys will freeze. How far do you think the mayor will push this? I wouldn’t be surprised if he mandated they ride the bikes in any temperature.”

  My anger began to rise again. I was indignant on Glenn’s behalf. When the mayor announced cycles were coming to the police department, everyone assumed they were motorcycles. The only place I had ever heard of police on bicycles was on college campuses and in parks – and maybe on beach boardwalks. It was ridiculous and dangerous to put our men on bicycles, and it would only be a matter of time before a vehicle hit one of them. So much for safety.

  Arnie flashed a wry smile. “Exactly. But it’s more than what he’s doing in his official capacity. Have you noticed him while you’re watching the laundromat?”

  “He’s in and out of businesses all up and down Main Street all day long. He keeps going back to a small office across from Parker’s side entrance on Main Street.”

  Arnie nodded his head. “That’s his office.”

  “His office? I thought he had an office in the courthouse annex.”

  “He does, but he says he wants to be out amongst the people, so he can see firsthand what the needs of the community are.”

  “Moving his office isn’t a reason to investigate him.”

  “That’s not why we’re going to investigate. Several of the council members think he has an ulterior motive for wanting to be mayor. Mitch didn’t specifically say why, but they feel he’s hiding something, and he came to Buxley for a reason other than small-town living. He’s been asking a lot of questions about the downtown businesses, ours included, and he’s been going through the public records in the courthouse. They think he’s looking for someone.”

  “Maybe he should be the one hiring us,” I said.

  “Maybe,” Arnie said, a bit of a smile crossing his face again. “But for now, the council members want us to look into his past, find out who he’s looking for, and why.”

  “Did you already run the standard background checks?”

  He tossed a folder across the desk to me. “There wasn’t much. His record is clean in Indianapolis, but it only goes back one year. I can’t find him before that.”

  My eyebrows shot up again. “Bradley Bubba Bones is an alias.”

  “That’s what I’m thinking. This one might be a hard nut to crack. What do you say?”

  “I’m in. How do you want me to start?”

  “Start by doing what you’re already doing. Be observant. Keep tabs on him as best you can. Follow up on anything that might give you more information about who he is and what he’s up to.”

  I took the folder back to my office and crammed it into my satchel with my notebooks, organizer, camera, and personal items, including other necessities – like handcuffs, a stun gun, and pepper spray. I liked the convenience of having everything in one bag, but there was way too much junk in it right now.

  I stopped at Nancy’s desk on my way out of the office.

  “I won’t be back today. If you need me, I’ll be on the other side of the Christmas tree, or you can call me on my cell.”

  “I might walk over later,” she said. “I’ll need your signature on a couple of things.” She suddenly looked dismayed. “Do you think this weather is going to hold through Christmas? This is my first Christmas with Hank, and I want it to be perfect. I want it to snow.”

  I groaned. “Don’t say that. After all the ice we had last year, I’ll take temperatures in the fifties as long as we can get them. Besides, there’s something magical about taking a walk on New Year’s Eve when it’s fifty degrees at midnight. Make that memory with Hank instead of snow on Christmas Day.” I dug through my bag to find my keys. “Are you going to Mama and Roger’s for dinner on Sunday? I thought I heard her say Hank has a birthday party to photograph.”

  “The party was canceled. The birthday boy has the chicken pox, and Hank’s never had them, so the cancellation was mutual. We’ll be there. Buck is coming home tonight, so he and Pepper and the kids will be there, too. Is Glenn bringing anything?” she asked hopefully.

  I smiled. Now that everyone knew Glenn was a great Italian cook, having his food at Sunday dinners was a treat. Mama was no slouch in the kitchen, but she couldn’t compete with Glenn when it came to Italian.

  “Not this week. He’s working Saturday night, so I’ll have to wake him to get him to dinner on time. Maybe next week.”

  I left her with a disappointed look on her face and drove across our parking lot to the health food store in the next block. A large Christmas tree had been erected on a small, empty plot of land situated be
tween the health food store and the small strip mall housing Parker’s Tavern, our offices, a resale clothing store, and a pizza shop with such terrible pizza, I couldn’t believe it was still in business.

  Large multi-colored bulbs adorned the tree, allowing the lights to be visible during the day. On a cloudy day like today, the tree helped make up for the lack of snow and provided a holiday atmosphere.

  By parking at the edge of the parking lot nearest the tree, I was somewhat obscured, but I had a clear view of the laundromat across the street to the right. The door to the mayor’s office was within view, but the tree blocked anything beyond his building.

  Directly across the street was a small antique store. To the left was Crump and Crumpets Bakery with Wagner’s Used Books directly beside it. The bakery and the bookstore had more foot traffic than the other businesses, and watching people helped to keep me awake. Well, that and a lot of coffee.

  I stuck the tinted windshield cover Glenn had made for me up against the window. Suction cups held it in place. I could see out, but the tint was too dark for anyone across the street to see me.

  I began my surveillance as usual by reviewing the folder for the case. Two weeks ago, Agent Roberts of the FBI out of Cleveland stopped in and asked us to monitor the traffic in and out of the laundromat. We weren’t to approach or speak with anyone. We were only to note any changes to general traffic in and out of the building. However, he was most interested in knowing if a man in a black Escalade showed up.

  They had been close to catching a man who used storefronts to sell fake IDs to illegal workers. Just as they were about to raid a small grocery store in Akron, it unexpectedly closed. The laundromat was now suspected of being the new base of operations.

  If the last two Fridays were an indication, there would be heavy traffic in and out of the laundromat today. Last week, no less than seven men in each of four vehicles went into the store. Whether they were cashing checks, wiring money, or buying fake IDs, I had no idea, but the number of people who went in for reasons other than doing laundry surprised me.